As more is revealed about former Wayne County economic development director Turkia Mullin’s compensation arrangement, the more I’m reminded of “All The President’s Men.”

Not just for the obvious reasons, but also for the scene in which Robert Redford’s Bob Woodward explains what he and Bernstein uncovered about Don Segretti’s dirty tricks operation to Hal Holbrook’s “Deep Throat.”

“You’re missing the overall…don't tell me you think this is all the work of little Don Segretti?” The source asked the reporter.

The same question could be asked here: Do you think this was all the work of little Bob Ficano?

Ficano defends the arrangement as the kind of “public-private partnership” that warms hearts within the local business community. That’s probably an honest statement, and that’s the problem. To quote Deep Throat once more: Follow the money.

If Mullin’s salary was paid entirely by Wayne County taxpayers, then there’s no question about her fiduciary obligation to those taxpayers. But no economic development bureaucrat can have two masters. And $75,000 is a small price to pay to know your firm will have an inside track on a nine-figure project.

When push came to shove, who did Turkia Mullin ultimately serve, the taxpayers or the business interests that supplemented her salary through the WCBDC?

Maybe it doesn’t really matter. The appearance of impropriety is so inappropriate that everyone—politicians and businessmen, alike—involved shouldn't be allowed near the public treasury ever again.

Wayne County is definitely in need of a political housecleaning, but there’s a deeper problem here that can’t be solved with a different group of elected officials.

“Friend of the program” concessionaires and contractors must be held accountable for what can only be called a legalized form of influence peddling.